Flake Watch 2005
by forensicsfan
Summary: NS A forecast for snow, a bit of mistletoe, and one out of sorts junior CSI.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them, but if given the chance I'd buy them all an eggnog latte.

**Author's Note:** This is a little early Christmas present to all my fellow Snickers. Strangely enough this idea for this challenge I posted came from a local reporter that I like to refer to as Jim "Disaster" Foreman, who can make a disaster out of _any_ story.

* * *

"Merry Christmas my ass." Greg was muttering under his breath as he walked into the lab after processing a rather gristly crime scene with Nick and Sara. It seemed that everywhere he looked as he walked down the hallway he saw Christmas decorations, in fact the new DNA tech had been sporting a Santa hat and jingle bells on her shoelaces for the last week and it was driving Greg batty. There was a time that _he_ would have been the instigator of the very same things, but that was _before_ he began working in the field. 

And then there was Nick and Sara.

The two of them were just way too damn cheery. At the report of the likelihood of snow falling in Vegas in the next 24 hours coming over the radio in the Denali on the way back to the lab, Sara had let out a squeal similar to what Greg imagined a stuck pig would sound like. And Greg only hoped he was imagining it when Nick seemed a little too excited that Sara was excited, almost driving off the road as he seemed to stare at Sara who was sitting in the front seat with him. Greg had just sat in the backseat of the Denali with a scowl on his face worthy of the Grinch.

Greg decided that coffee was in order given that he was sure that this shift was going to turn into a double. He detoured into the break room and made his way over to where he stowed his secret stash of Blue Hawaiian coffee to brew a pot and hopefully perk up his mood a little.

As he waited for the coffee to brew it occurred to him that someone had gone a little overboard on the decorations in the break room. Someone had tacked tinsel up all over the ceiling so that it dangled down, giving it the effect that it was snowing inside. Over in the corner was a haphazard stack of ornaments and a few pine needles as if a Christmas tree had stood there recently but had been suddenly yanked out of the lab for reasons unbeknownst to Greg. There were even a few leftover Halloween decorations that no one seemed to want to toss. He let out a harrumph that sounded strangely like a Ba humbug.

"What's with the gloomy face, man?" Nick strode into the break room with Sara right behind him as they followed the aroma of freshly brewed coffee.

Greg didn't want to shower down doom and gloom and so he pasted on a sort of smile and then gestured towards the ornaments in the corner. "Someone stole our Christmas cheer."

Nick smirked. "Nah, Catherine is bringing her eggnog by a little later." He could tell Greg was out of sorts; he'd been out of sorts all night; and he thought he'd try and lighten the mood.

"Actually, Grissom took the tree for an experiment." Sara interjected with an amused smile. "Apparently, there was some sort of insect infestation that he wanted to take a closer look at...well that and I think something from that tree got in Ecklie's gingerbread latte." She glanced over at Nick and the corners of her mouth twitched up into a smile.

Nick let out a guffaw. "Glad it wasn't mine." He reached for the remote and flicked on the TV as he sank into the couch, patting the seat next to him for Sara to join him.

"_That's right folks there will be snow in Vegas."_

A far too cheery looking weatherman on the TV looked utterly ridiculous in multiple layers of coats, hats, scarves as he made his report from just off the Strip.

"_I'm Kelvin Walker and I'll keep you posted on 'Flake Watch 2005' throughout the evening, when we see a flake fall, we'll break in with breaking news."_

"Flake Watch 2005? Is this guy serious?" Nick flicked the TV off and snorted out a laugh, taking the opportunity to casually sling an arm over Sara's shoulders, completely oblivious to the curious stare from Greg.

"Well snow _is_ a big deal in Vegas. When was the last time you saw it snow here?" Sara replied a bit cheekily and scooted a little closer to Nick.

"Never." Nick grinned widely and then reached over and touched the end of her nose. "But then I was in Texas when it snowed here last year." He remembered it well because Sara had called him and her voice had seemed to hold a childlike quality of wonder as she told him about the nearly 2-inch accumulation of snow near the Strip.

Sara blushed a little bit. "Ok, besides that?"

"There was a big storm in 1996." Greg interjected and wondered to himself if the pair on the couch had even remembered that he was still in the room.

"Yeah?" Nick craned his neck to look back at Greg, but didn't make any move to lift his arm from Sara's shoulders.

"I read about it before I moved here; I wanted to get an idea of the weather." Greg smirked. He was starting to feel a little less Grinchy now that he had a cup of coffee in hand.

"Hot as hell most of the time is all you need to know." Nick jibed. "I don't think I've ever had a white Christmas."

"Never?" Sara looked at him incredulously. She'd had a few when she'd gone to school at Harvard; but Boston was far colder in the winter than she really liked.

"Nope." Nick shook his head. "We got snow in Dallas last year when it snowed in Vegas, but I've never seen it snow on Christmas." That was one of the things that had made that phone call from Sara so special; it was snowing in both places while they were talking and there was something that started tugging at his heart then and now many months later he was finally ready to test the waters a bit more boldly.

"What about you, Greg?" Sara glanced over at Greg who had made his way over to sit in a chair opposite the couch.

"Well, when I lived in New York we did, but it's been years since I've been somewhere on Christmas when it's been snowing." Greg looked sad; normally he would have found a way to take time off to spend the holidays with his family, but since becoming a CSI he found it more and more difficult to take the time off; not because he didn't have it available, but because he just didn't feel the holiday spirit.

"Are you going home for Christmas?" Nick queried his friend with a concerned expression.

"Uh, no...I just didn't think I could get the time off." Greg remarked with a furrowed brow.

"Spend Christmas with Nick and I." Sara had the words out without hesitation. "Neither of us has a place to be and it'll be fun; I think even Warrick and Tina are coming."

"Yeah, man, it's gonna be pretty low key." Nick smiled over at Greg. "You might even convince Sara to knit you a hat." He knew that Sara had been trying to expand her hobbies and lately she'd been going nuts knitting hats and scarves for everyone she met.

"I still haven't had an occasion to wear the one she made me last month." Greg smirked and then let out a soft chuckle.

"Hey, I haven't learned how to make anything else yet...the Knifty Knitters don't really let you make anything else except for maybe an ugly pair of socks or a golf club cover." Sara could feel her cheeks burning and she nudged Nick in the ribs with her elbow. She wondered what he would do when he opened his gift from her and she smiled at the possibilities of what might happen when you give a gift of mistletoe.

"I'm sure Greg could use some socks." Nick just grinned at her and then reluctantly pulled himself up off of the couch, offering Sara his hand to pull her up too.

"So you'll come then." Sara just wanted to confirm that Greg would come; he had become a really good friend this last year or so and she didn't want anyone to feel alone on Christmas.

"Yeah." Greg noticed that Nick hadn't quite let go of Sara's hand and that she didn't seem to mind.

"Good." Nick smiled smugly pulling Sara with him towards the door to the hallway and gesturing to Greg to follow. "We should get back to the case."

"Of course." Greg smirked a little as he noticed something hanging from the doorframe and then he cleared his throat. "Stop you two."

Sara riveted to the spot wondering if one of the insects that had infested the Christmas tree was dangling from her forehead. "What?"

Nick simply quirked an eyebrow. "Yeah, what?"

Greg looked amused, suddenly feeling a rush of the holiday spirit. "Look up."

A wide grin spread over Nick's face as he realized that someone had hung up a sprig of mistletoe. "Now how did that get there?" He knew exactly how it had gotten there, he'd watched the new lab tech hang it up and he'd forgotten about it until just then.

"I don't know." Sara couldn't help but smile at the idea that fate had determined to tell her how her Christmas present would have been received. "But we probably shouldn't just stand here."

"Probably not." Nick leaned forward and softly kissed her; not quite sure how she'd react and then finding that she was kissing him back; he put a little more gusto into it.

"I guess I'll have to get you something different for Christmas." Sara whispered as they broke apart, both of them grinning like fools.

Nick looked at her curiously.

"I got you mistletoe." Sara felt her cheeks flush and then she leaned up and kissed Nick again.

Greg cleared his throat and considered that maybe just maybe he should try and get Wendy the new lab tech under the mistletoe with him. "You could always make him socks."

**_The End_**


End file.
